Ate Foam Ball

Yesterday afternoon my cat hawked up, amongst other things, some little pieces of a foam ball that she plays with. We hadn't realized that she was ripping it apart and eating it. We've since thrown away all of these balls.

Since then, she'll occasionally do this horrible hacking thing, like she's about to throw up. She hasn't, but it's happened about three times since last night.

Is this something we should be concerned about? Clearly there are still a few pieces that she needs to get out, but we're hoping she'll either throw them up or pass them.

Is it possible for it to cause some sort of blockage? Are there any signs that we should watch for? Her appetite and litter use are both normal.

Appetite and litter use are what I'd watch for, as well as general lethargy. You may want to call the vet and ask whether you should bring her in or what other signs to watch for. If you have hairball gunk available, sometimes that will help the item pass, but I'd ask the vet how much to give.

In addition to the good advice posted, I would say to watch for white foamy vomit...although I believe that usually shows up after the appetite and litter box deposits taper off.

This is gross, but for peace of mind I think I would examine her poo for pieces of the ball if possible. I would think that it would still be recognizable when the pieces pass...but I'm not sure.

I hope she's OK!

Unfortunately our vet is closed at this point. If it seems problematic we'll call the local emergency vet. We don't have any hair ball stuff (never had to deal with this sort of thing before). Is it something we can buy at a store, or would it have to come from the vet?

We're going to put her in a room by herself so that we can monitor food and litter use more precisely.

*sigh* Now one of her eyes is runny. She's sort of squinting and blinking occasionally. My boyfriend just informed me that it's been like this since yesterday (when the vet was open), but he didn't bother to tell me.

Could this be connected in some way, or is it more likely that her eye was irritated by roughhousing with our new cat?

You can get the hairball goo at pet stores. I usually use tuna flavored Laxatone, which I think just comes from the vet but there are similar products at Petsmart, Petco, etc. I usually use about a teaspoon, or 2 inches worth...should be about the same. A vet might tell you to use more than that in this case, I would ask. Sometimes if you call the e-vet they'll give you some advice on the phone. Ours isn't like that, but that's another issue. Hopefully they will be helpful.

A runny eye probably isn't related. I can imaging they could get watery if she was trying to throw up recently but that would probably be both eyes in that case.

Trout loves foam balls, and will try to eat them..I just keep an eye on her, and make a loud noise to distract her while she is munching it.

She never had any serious problems, I don't think she swallows enough of it.

I would just keep an eye on your baby, and if she acts weird or isn't eating/going to the litterbox, then its a problem.

We'll see if we can find some hairball goo. It's a holiday weekend here, though, so lots of places are closed.

She's really POed about being locked in the bedroom, so I guess she's feeling okay. And definitely using the litter box. You would not believe the stink! I think I checked on her right after she used it. I also gave her a bit of food as a snack and she chowed down.

Her eye is a bit better.

Trouts mom, I think we're going to need to find a new type of ball for her. She loves the things, but there was probably half a foam ball total in her barf last night. Yech.

Thanks everyone.

We're going to take her in to the ER vet. My best guess is that she can wait until Tuesday, but it's not worth the risk. Why do animals always get sick over long weekends?

We'll probably be gone for quite a while since the animals with actual emergencies will get seen first, so it'll be a while before I update again.

She still has an excellent appetite, and isn't acting lethargic. Unfortunately, her eye is no better, and she's still throwing up a bit. We think she had diarrhea last night. Unfortunately our other cat managed to open the door to our bedroom, so we can't tell if she used the litter box or not.

So I'll be back in a while. Wish us luck!

We're back! They actually saw us very quickly, so we were lucky on that one.

We've got some anti-diarrhea meds and some eye meds to give her. Other than that, we're just supposed to keep an eye on her. If she goes off her food and water we need to bring her back asap. Until then, she's probably fine. Hopefully everything will clear up on its own within a few days.

Audrey still has a runny eye, and she is still making that awful hacking noise. I thought she was gagging and dry heaving, but is it possible that she's actually coughing?

I would have thought that the ER vet would have caught something like this, but now I'm wondering if she just has a URI (the foam ball being merely incidental).

Any ideas? Our new cat is getting a well visit on Wednesday, so my boyfriend might just bring them both in.

Originally Posted by NicoleGray

Audrey still has a runny eye, and she is still making that awful hacking noise. I thought she was gagging and dry heaving, but is it possible that she's actually coughing?

I would have thought that the ER vet would have caught something like this, but now I'm wondering if she just has a URI (the foam ball being merely incidental).

Any ideas? Our new cat is getting a well visit on Wednesday, so my boyfriend might just bring them both in.

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I think you could be right about the URI...especially considering that your other cat just joined the household. I can't remember his name and it was cute too (should've been memorable!). A new cat bringing a virus home is pretty common, even if he's symptom-free.

Beandip made a weird gagging-shrieking noise when he had a virus. The vet explained that it was probably due to mucous/drainage irritating his throat.

I would take her to your regular vet. Is she still eating and pottying OK?

I'm going to be annoyed if it ends up we paid extra for the stupid ER visit and the guy we saw was completely off base. Ya think they give refunds?

Part of why I thought of a URI is because, as you said, Marlon (I would be shocked if you could remember the names of everyone's cats ) might have brought it home. We hoped to avoid this by quarantining for a few days, but there's a limit to what you can do in a two bedroom apartment, I guess.

She's still eating like a pig. We think her litter use is fine, but it's hard to tell. The little stinker will save it up all night and then charge down the stairs to use the box down there as soon as we open the door, so we can't tell which cat is doing what. I think she dislikes using the box in the same room where she's sleeping.

We've been trying to give her the stomach meds the vet gave us, but she immediately cough/gags it back up (we don't squirt it down her throat, so she shouldn't be inhaling it). It's disgusting stuff. Mucous mixed with liquid meds. Ridiculously hard to clean off the floor.

Thanks for the advice! I will call our vet tomorrow when they open. We might just delay Marlon's well visit and take Audrey in instead. I'll be in class, and I'm not sure my boyfriend can manage lugging around both of our massive cats.

Ahhh! Audrey and Marlon...the names go together. Yes it would be amazing if I could remember, though.

I think you have a good plan. That's a bummer about the timing of the foam ball. I'll bet you're right. I guess the real good "critical thinkers" at the ER vet were off work over the holiday weekend. You'd think any doctor should fit that description, though.

Audrey's actually doing much better today. Hasn't made any hacking noises since yesterday morning I'd say (and that was when we were trying to feed her the stomach meds). Her eye is still sort of squinty, but she's already on meds for that, so it'll just clear up in time.

So we're probably not going to take her to the vet at this point. If she starts hacking again we'll call asap, but at this point we're not worried about her.